From the open publishing newswire:
A cypherpunk is someone who uses cryptography and similar methods to achieve societal and political change.

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Over the last two decades we have seen the Internet transformed from a tool of emancipation to the most insidious threat to human liberty the world has ever seen.
But amidst the seemingly intractable rise of a transnational surveillance society, there is a small spark of hope endowed on us through the power of mathematics.
It is possible to formulate a math problem (an algorithm) so difficult that even the mightiest superpower cannot decipher it. It is this fundamental property of our physical universe that provides some measure of hope in what otherwise seems to be very dark times.

Through this conference we hope to increase how networked our movement is and raise public awareness about issues of privacy, technology and social change in the digital age.

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takes place on April 11th, 10am-7pm
Portland State University
Smith Memorial Student Union

From the open publishing newswire:
Anonymous also posted an editable version of the website, inviting users to deface it as they pleased. Multiple pages -- not only the home page -- appeared to allow users to alter them.
In anger over the recent death [SUICIDE!! HELLO!?]of an Internet activist who faced federal charges, hackers claiming to be from the group Anonymous threatened early Saturday to release sensitive information about the U.S. Department of Justice.

They claimed to have one such file on multiple servers ready for immediate release.
The hackers apparently hijacked the website of the U.S. government agency responsible for federal sentencing guidelines, where they posted a message demanding the United States reform its justice system or face incriminating leaks to select news outlets.

If you are seeking rental property in the Portland Metro area you may have run across their NUMEROUS "Call RDB" house listing ads online. The ads often list enticingly low prices in attractive areas, yet NEVER offer an address or a photo.

Avoid these people and their dubious 'service' like the plague on free society they are. They republish a database of freely obtained house listings from off the net and charge RENTERS $35 to see their substandard imageless database. They illegitimately spam the free classified sites with their 'listings' which are in reality only ads for their website 'service'. They use phony bait and switch tactics by listing enticing properties in their ads that do not exist in the database once you become a member.

This is a computer security workshop geared towards all activists that use the internet and computers in general. A large portion of this workshop will be going through the step-by-steps of installing and using PGP encryption. It will be given by two experienced computer-security-geeks, who will be available for other questions as well.

From the open publishing newswire:
Free Geek has been awarded the international Chris Nichol FOSS Prize
for "doing extraordinary work to make FOSS accessible to ordinary
computer users."

The award is given annually by the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) to acknowledge organizations working with FOSS, Free and Open Source Software that is free to users and has an open source code so any user can view and modify it.

From the open publishing newswire:
I just receive an automated telemarketing call asking me to warn Oregon Sen Gordon Smith (why only Smith? Wyden is at least as sleazy...) AGAINST support of "net neutrality" beacuse according to the telemarketing speaker "net neutrality" would mean that "consumers would bear the cost of enhancements and expansions to internet" ...

... and ABSENT net neutrality, according to the telemarketing, "big corporations like yahoo and Comcast" would bear these costs.

Receiver of call is than asked to press "1" (I think it was) to leave what they said was to be a personal voice message to Smith saying that you DON'T WANT NET NEUTRALITY because NET NEUTRALITY means only "higher costs to consumer" without consumer benefit.

From the open publishing newswire:
Bummer! I just learned that Free Geek, Portland's computer recycling non-profit ("Helping the needy get nerdy") has been broken into and several laptops / LCD monitors were stolen. Please report suspected stolen laptops / LCD monitors (being sold on Craigslist, on the street, etc.) to Free Geek. They track the serial numbers of items and could likely tell you if something was stolen from them, if you are able to obtain the serial number. If someone tries to sell you any of these things and refuses to give the serial number, or otherwise acts suspicious, notify the police (on the chance that they can distract themselves from harassing immigrants and shooting mentally handicapped people) and give them as much detail as you can. [ Read More ] [ Free Geek Breakin \ Free Geek ]

IPRC Robbed!

Portland Independent Publishing Resource Center, a nonprofit devoted to facilitating creative expression, was broken into and robbed on Sunday night sometime after 8 p.m. Thieves stole our main computer (an apple G5), which housed the records for our library of over 5500 zines, our member/user database, and more. Theives also took two computer monitors, and in true grinchy fashion, the covers of the couch cushions (presumably to carry away our items). If you know anything about this robbery, or can help in some way, please email our temporary email address: iprcoutreach@yahoo.com or call (503) 827 0249 thanks! [ Read More ] [ IPRC ]

From the open publishing newswire:
At a Press Conference today, October 18, 2006, held at Powell's Books on West Burnside in Portland, Senator Ron Wyden spoke about Network Neutrality and the fight in Congress over the future of the internet. He was joined by local business owners and concerned citizens who delivered more than 20,000 petitions from Oregon residents supporting Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality is the longstanding principle that ensures all Web sites and services are treated equally. This fundamental principle, in place since the Internet was created, prevents Internet service providers from discriminating against content or services traveling over their wires based on which companies pay them the most.

From the open publishing newswire:
Senator Arlen Specter's solution for the President's refusal to obey U.S. law requiring warrants for wiretapping Americans is to change the pesky law in order to make the President's warrantless wiretapping program legal. He is now trying to pass the National Security Surveillance Act, S. 2453. We Need To Stop This!

So far this has happened -- SAN FRANCISCO - The Bush administration appealed a court decision Monday that allowed a lawsuit to go forward challenging the president's warrantless domestic spying program.

In rejecting government claims that the suit could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled July 20 that the eavesdropping was so widely reported there appears to be no danger of spilling secrets. Walker also said he did not see how allowing the lawsuit to continue could threaten national security. Walker is the only judge to rule against the government's claim of a "state secrets privilege."

And this is where I as well as BORDC are asking everyone to contact their Senators now and at the very latest by Aug 2!

From the open publishing newswire:
listen to an hour's worth of interviews from Free Geek's 2006 Geek Fair held on Saturday July 15. This audio is available in both streaming (pls) and download (MP3) formats and features interviews with folks from Free Geek, Shift to Bikes, Wibiki, Backspace, Redwing, and "Nature" with music by the Eclectic Bastards and an excerpt from "Geek Arena!"

From the open publishing newswire:
San Francisco - A federal judge today denied the government's motion to dismiss the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) case against AT&T for collaborating with the NSA in illegal spying of millions of ordinary Americans. This allows the case to go forward in the courts.

The court deferred to the government on one matter: the judge ordered that EFF can't compel AT&T to disclose whether or not the telecom participated in a separate program, first reported by USA Today, in which the NSA allegedly examines Americans' phone records without a warrant.

From the open publishing newswire:
With the Turin Winter Olympics and the Italian elections over, repression of the "NO TAV" movement has begun and pressure will be on to begin work on the Turin-Lyon (France)link of the Italian high-speed train network (TAV). Massive protests late last year finally forced the issue into national attention, and now eight subpoenas have been handed down from those protests. But the opposition is ready to continue their 15-year struggle.

This article was written before the subpoenas came down three weeks ago. The first appearances before the magistrate will be happening soon. One of those requested to appear is Beppe Joannas, mayor of Bussoleno, one of the more outspoken of the 38 or so Susa Valley mayors, who all oppose the project. It is unclear at this point what eventual charges may be filed. Also only slightly covered in the article is what effect the narrow election of Romano Prodi's "center-left" coalition will have on the TAV issue. Prodi was involved in the early stages of the TAV network's development, supported it while President of the European Commission, and still supports it. But some key members of his coalition, like Fausto Bertinotti of Rifondazione Comunista, who was elected as President of the House of Deputies (3rd highest position in the government) has opposed it. To learn more about the issue, read on....

From the open publishing newswire:
Two annual reports recently released by federal agencies show that surveillance activity conducted by the United States government has continued to rise dramatically since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with use of investigative powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act again at an all-time high.

A coalition of consumer and civil liberties groups joined EPIC in filing comments with the Federal Communications Commission that urge the agency to adopt stronger protections for phone records. Phone records (and other types of personal information held by businesses) are vulnerable to "pretexting," a practice where an individual impersonates another person, employs false pretenses, or otherwise uses trickery to obtain information. In 2005, EPIC identified 40 websites offering to obtain phone records through pretexting, and filed a petition with the FCC to require stronger rules for protecting phone records